Take my Hand
by DD Agent
Summary: A one shot after 'The Hub' that is purely linking the two episodes together. What would Laura and Bill do in the brief few moments alone after their reunion?


Take My Hand, by DD Agent

**Take My Hand, by DD Agent**

I originally intended to do a 'Bill and Laura get engaged' fic, but after seeing that many people had opted for that, I decided to change my mind. Talking to my friend Em, she gave me the prompt of a post 'The Hub' one shot for her. So here it is. Spoilers up to 4.09 'The Hub'. Lyrics at the end are to Shawn McDonald's 'Take my Hand'.

For Em, my friend and my BSG partner in crime.

XxX

He held onto her, desperate to make sure that she was really there and not just a figment of his imagination. Over his time waiting in the raptor, he had had many visions of her standing there, taking to him, holding him. But here she was, in his arms, telling him that she loved him. The words cracked open the stone that his heart had been encased in, and he pulled away from the embrace slightly to look at her.

"About time." He was sure she had known how he had felt. Tigh had known, probably before Bill even had. He left a lingering kiss on her forehead, her skin feeling soft on his lips. She shivered at the act, but that just made Bill hold onto her tighter.

He could spend eternity in her arms, he was sure of it. Those beautiful eyes had taken hold of his heart, his mind, his soul and he was about to surrender. Bill had never surrendered willingly once in his entire life, but now he did. He didn't see it as surrender, and he was prepared to be a prisoner of war if she would look at him every day like she was right now.

Their first kiss had been one of respect, of friendship. Not of the overpowering love he felt now for the woman in front of him. Back then they had just taken on Admiral Cain, discovered more about the Cylons and he had been promoted. They had been to hell and back twice over and Bill felt like having some human contact. She had given him something that he had wanted all his life, and he repaid her with a kiss.

Laura Roslin had done it once more. Among the things he had wanted in his life (wings, children, respect), he wanted someone to call his own unquestioningly. Carolanne had been too reliant on his love, and had turned to alcohol when Bill had been away. Although Laura was the most stubborn and independent person he had ever met, she was also his through and through. She could look at him from afar, stay close to him in his quarters, but she was his. And she knew it.

Their second kiss was chaste at first. Soft lips pressed against each other, a reaffirmation of their love for each other. He realised he still hadn't said the words back, but a glance to her eyes told him that his face had revealed his true feelings already. Bringing his mouth to overlap hers, he gently kissed her. Bill wanted it to be perfect, two parts passion, four parts love.

"Bill…"

"I know."

He wanted to kiss her mouth, her cheeks, the tears tracing down her face. He wanted all of her, but that couldn't happen in the middle of a base star hangar deck. He wanted all of her, but he would wait until they had returned home. Their home. She gave him one of her incredible smiles, and he offered her his hand. She took it, her fingertips tracing his palm. He felt like his heart was going to burst from the sheer beating of it.

"Madam President."

"Admiral Adama."

He guided her onto the raptor, and settled her down on one of the seats in the back. He sat opposite to her and just looked at her for a moment, trying to memorise all the contours of her face, and she him. It was always the way, a moment of peace haunted by the overture of something big.

"Well aren't you going to say anything?" Roslin teased, watching him smile.

"I think we've said all that there is to be said."

"Well we're going to have a very boring life after this base star."

Laughter. She had a beautiful laugh. A beautiful face, a beautiful soul. What he had told Lee was right, he couldn't live without her. She was his world, the only thing he had left to live for. Lee had his own life now, with his political career, with or without Kara. Laura was his partner, his lover, his moral compass, his guiding star.

"I can see the cogs whirring around in your head Bill, what are you thinking?" Laura asked gently, stepping over to the other side of the raptor beside him. She took his hands in hers and looked him deep in the eyes. She was close enough to smell and touch, and his heart rate increased once again.

"Thinking about how perfect you are." Laura chuckled at his remark. She turned to him and rested one of her hands against his chin. "Don't put me on a pedestal Bill, I don't know whether I will be able to live up to your expectations."

"You forget Laura, I've known you for years already. I've lived with you for a while now. I know everything about you and love you more and more every time I see you," he replied, his voice husky and breaking at the end.

"Oh Bill," Laura murmured, and she shifted closer to him on the soft seats. He was so close to her, he could see the tears lingering in her eyelashes, the tremor of her bottom lip and the anticipation of what was going to come.

One of his hands found their way to her hip, pulling her ever closer. The other caressed her cheek, tracing a small heart there. Her hands encircled around his neck, bringing his face closer to hers. The air was their air. The raptor was their raptor. Time was theirs, love was theirs. No one could take it from them.

Their third kiss was different from their first two. His mouth smashed into hers, drawing something that was a cross between surprise and a longing moan from Laura's lips. It just encouraged him on further. He took her bottom lip between hers. She pushed him closer to her, desperate to feel the passion emanating from the Admiral. He broke the kiss and moved his lips over her cheeks, kissing away the tears of happiness that had begun to fall.

When they had both got their breath back, Laura looked at him and beamed. "You know, I don't think I really want that cabin on Earth anymore."

Bill looked surprised at her words, and turned to her in confusion. She ran a finger across his lips and whispered in his ear words that stopped his heart. "All I want is you, Bill Adama. We could spend the rest of eternity in this raptor and I would be happy."

Bill laughed. "Well this raptor is very special. It has its own library." He picked up a copy of _Searider Falcon_. "And music too. This is a very good raptor actually, it must be Racetracks. After all we've been through, we deserve a decent raptor to spend our retirement out in."

Laura threw her arms fully around Bill Adama's neck as she realised where he was heading with this. He giggled and moved his head to kiss her neck, murmuring words into her neck like a prayer.

"You're still standing," Laura whispered.

"So are you."

"And I can dance."

"Then let me take you to the floor Madam President."

Softly laughing against his neck, he held out his hand for her to dance on the raptor. He pressed the button on the little machine that must have been left by one of the pilots, and moved over to Laura. One hand on her waist, the other clutching her own. They were closer than they had been on Colonial Day, but that was years, many lives, and three kisses ago. She struggled to listen to the words of the music, as they were so soft. She needn't have bothered, as Bill began to sing the words against the hollow of her ear.

"Take my hand to the promise land  
And on you I want to stand  
'Cause I cannot do it on my own  
You're what I need and I need to be  
Right by your side 'cause I cannot hide."

"Oh Bill…"

It was that tone, the tone that promised the world and then some. Moving his head lower, he captured his mouth with hers for a kiss that left him in a world of unspeakable happiness. Heart pounding, hands sweating. Cylons down the hall, final five still unknown. It didn't matter: all that mattered was her and her mouth and her love. Just her. If the fleet were just him and her it would be all right. Because she was his world, his light in the darkness of space.

"Madam President-oh."

Laura and Bill broke their kiss and turned to the entrance of the raptor where Helo was standing there. The young man had begun to turn slightly pale at catching the Admiral and the President in a very _personal_ embrace.

"Ah, Captain Agathon. Can I help you?"

"Uh, Madam President, D'Anna wants to talk to you about the situation at hand. Its good to see you again Admiral," Helo announced, and he noticed the look of love pass between the commanders of the fleet. He left as quickly as he could to make his way back to the pilots. Bill offered Laura his hand, and she took it, smiling. Everything was alright now.

XxX


End file.
